The expansion of the Internet world and progress in the field of virtual space has been the solution to many problems of the modern man. But at the same time, it has also brought problems and troubles and has become the basis for committing some emerging crimes such as Hacking crime. “Hack” is one of the major criminal titles that occurs in cyberspace. Hacking, like other computer crimes, contrary to its low-risk and peaceful appearance, is very dangerous and can cause many destructive effects on society. In recent years, the rate of committing this behavior has increased significantly. In this article from Dadista, we discuss some Hacking crime and hacking punishments.
What is a hack?
Hacking in the word means breaking in, quickly and intelligently infiltrating computer systems, and sometimes it is used in the meaning of decoding. The best literal meaning for hacking is the same phrase as penetration and penetration; Because any type of hacking is necessarily associated with some kind of penetration.
Hacking in the term is generally used in the following two meanings:
1- Unauthorized access: In this sense, hacking is the unauthorized access to computer information through network penetration.
2- Having skills: In this sense, hacking means having the necessary technical skills to solve problems and remove limitations. In fact, hacking in this sense is a kind of skill and gives the hacker the ability to solve the limitations and problems created in the virtual and cyber space.
After the definition of hacking, understanding the meaning of hacker does not seem so difficult. A hacker is the person who performs hacking operations. This person gains unauthorized access to the account (personal account) or the system of persons (both natural and legal persons) through cyber space and through this access to many personal, commercial, confidential and… achieves Hackers are generally people with high programming power who use this ability to infiltrate systems and networks.
Types of hackers
Hackers are divided into three main groups according to their purpose and motivation in hacking operations:
Black hat hackers
Black hat hackers are actually hackers who illegally break into another’s system. These hackers are considered the most destructive type of hackers who destroy or steal data after intrusion. They are motivated by hacking, theft, sabotage, system disruption, revenge, forgery, eavesdropping or manipulation. The result of many of these hacks is extensive financial losses. In some cases, these types of hackers are motivated to spy.
Gray hat hackers
Gray hat hackers hack the systems and related systems with the aim of spreading information and programs of other users. This group of hackers find different codes to enter the system and break into it, but they do not commit theft or vandalism; Rather, after penetrating the system and obtaining data, they (data) are available to the public. This type of hack was done by a Japanese hacker in 1994 on the NASA website (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) and made all the confidential documents of this organization available to the public and cyberspace for free. Often the goal of these hackers is to have fun and gain fame.
White hat hackers
White hat hackers, with the permission of the owner of the system, attempt to infiltrate and break into it. They are also called legal or ethical hackers. Often, the purpose of such hacks is to test the impenetrability of systems and measure their security factor. Many banks or big companies use the services of these hackers to test their systems.
Hacking is not criminalized anywhere in the Islamic Penal Code and the Computer Crimes Law, but there are two articles in the Computer Crimes Law that have a lot to do with this behavior, Article 1 and Article 8. Since the two mentioned articles are cited to a large extent in the cases related to “hacking”, a brief review of the crimes stipulated in those two will not be without benefit.
Complaints about all crimes that are in the field of computer crimes can be pursued through a computer crimes lawyer.
The first article of the law on computer crimes deals with the crime of unauthorized access. This article stipulates: “Anyone who illegally accesses data or computer or telecommunication systems that are protected by security measures, shall be imprisoned from ninety-one days to one year or fined from five to twenty million rials. Million Rials or both punishments will be sentenced.
It should be known that unauthorized access is the starting point and introduction of many criminal computer operations. For hacking, unauthorized penetration and access to the destination system must be done. As a result of such penetration, actions such as data destruction or disruption or committing other criminal operations are possible. Therefore, unauthorized access is inseparable from hacking.
Unauthorized access crime
Hackers gain access to the target systems in various ways, such as password access, backdoor access, transparent horse access, and the like. The important thing is that this access must be done by breaking the security measures defined on the system. Therefore, as long as special and security measures are not defined on the system, access to that system is not unauthorized access as intended by the computer crimes law, and accordingly, the crime of hacking is not realized.
The punishment for this access, as mentioned in the text of the article, will be imprisonment from ninety-one days to one year or a fine from five million to twenty million Rials or both.
Important note
It is important to mention that, contrary to the popular belief that unauthorized access and hacking are synonymous, these two actions are not the same. Experts consider the crime of hacking to be more specific than the crime of unauthorized access. It is true that hacking has the absolute meaning of penetration and penetration, but its common and common meaning is penetration into computer systems, which is accompanied by other actions such as analysis, disruption, destruction, etc.
The next article that is cited in many hacking cases is Article 8 of the Computer Crimes Law. According to this article: “Anyone who illegally deletes, destroys, disrupts, or cannot process other data from computer systems or data carriers shall be imprisoned from six months to two years or fined from ten million to forty million Rials. Rial or both punishments will be sentenced.
Previously, we announced that the crime of unauthorized access and hacking are inseparable; In such a way, committing the crime of unauthorized access is inevitable in hacking operations. In addition to that, the crime of destroying or disrupting data or system is also considered and cited as a result of many hacks.
It should be noted that Article 17 of the Law on Computer Crimes is also established in relation to the disclosure and publication of images and defamation of people without their permission.
Cyber hacking
Vandalism in virtual space has differences with vandalism in real space (the crime of traditional vandalism). Destruction in the virtual space, unlike destruction in the real space, is immaterial, intangible and imperceptible. Also, destruction in the virtual space in a very short moment causes failure and disruption in a system or data of a network.
It is natural that the goal of all hacks is not only unauthorized access to systems and data belonging to others. Many hackers break into systems to completely destroy or disrupt the data stored in the system, or to create a disruption in the performance of the system itself or the target system.
Perpetrators and hackers who carry out destruction operations during the hacking process are often divided into three categories based on their goals and motivations:
1-Hacked by angry employees
Destruction in the system or data by angry employees can be for the following reasons:
They were fired for what they consider to be unfair reasons.
They are dissatisfied with their job conditions.
They like to retire early.
They intend to take revenge on their employer based on their personal grievances.
2-Hack by terrorists
This group of people, considering motives such as destroying a specific group or a specific government, start hacking and destroy the data, systems and networks related to those specific groups or the relevant government.
3-Hacking by traders and business activists
The purpose of this group is to hack, gain commercial benefits, obtain confidential commercial information of competing groups or completely remove them from the competition, etc.
The punishment for this act, as mentioned in the text of the article, is imprisonment from six months to two years or a fine from ten million to forty million Rials or both punishments.
Conclusion
It can be concluded from the sum of the aforementioned contents that the punishment of the hacker depends on the actions of the hacker and the type of behavior committed by him. If the hacking operation is limited to unauthorized access, the punishment of Article 1 of the Computer Crimes Law is applied to the hacker, but if during the hacking process, destruction or disruption occurs in the data or the destination system, the punishment prescribed in Article 8 of the Computer Crimes Law is the source of the action. And it will apply to this person.
In other words, the general provisions of criminal law are referred to here. When a crime is a logical prelude to other crimes, it is no longer considered a separate crime. Therefore, in these cases, only the punishment for crimes after hacking (such as destruction) will be applied, and the punishment for unauthorized access will not be considered.
A very important point is that with the passage of time and the advancement of technology, we see the occurrence of new forms of hacking day by day. In this type of hacks, only unauthorized access or destruction of the system or data is not done. In addition to hacking, other crimes such as forgery, fraud (such as phishing), computer theft, etc. also occur. In this case, the punishment of the hacker and the crime of hacking will be determined according to the type of crimes committed through hacking.
The final solution
Pursuing cases and complaints related to various types of computer crimes and criminal lawsuits or preparing a defense bill regarding related charges is a specialized matter. Only lawyers and legal experts who are experienced and well versed in the law of computer crimes are able to pursue and succeed in them. Respected contacts can benefit from the legal advice of lawyers and expert legal advisors of Dadista Law Firm. Feel free to entrust the follow-up of your legal cases, including cases in the field of computer crimes, to this institution.